In Thailand, you can keep more of what you earn. The Kingdom is sharpening its competitive edge in digital finance by waiving capital gains taxes on cryptocurrency trades through 2029—as long as they are conducted through licensed brokers or exchanges—according to its Security and Exchange Commission.

Aside from its appeal to investors, the new and generous policy supports Thailand's stated goal of positioning itself as a global digital asset hub. Nishimura & Asahi, a legal firm with a strong specialty in digital finance, said the tax waiver was intended to stimulate Thailand's digital asset market and related businesses, which would provide revenue in place of the tax on capital gains.

Thai regulators initially took an extremely cautious approach to cryptocurrencies and digital assets. They were slow to permit the general public to invest in them while they used "sandboxes" to test them out. Sandboxes are controlled environments only open                  to select investors whom regulators believe can handle the risk levels, allowing regulators to observe how the closed market behaves and analyzes emerging problems.

Having successfully passed through the sandbox phase, regulators have now liberalized the cryptocurrency market while imposing some strict rules and closely monitoring the effects of risk and volatility on participants.

Nishimura & Asahi said the tax waiver promoted trading through Thai digital asset business operators regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Anti-Money Laundering Office. In doing so, an emphasis has been placed on transaction transparency and traceability.

While the Thai government has not indicated if the waivers will continue after 2029, analysts said the policy would help crypto adoption and cement Thailand's role as a major player in crypto in the region.